Liquid sealed vent valve



Sept. 4, 1945. -.|.v H. wlGGlNs LIQUID SEALED VENT VALVE Filed Aug. 28. 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet l INvENTo/, :Jo/1N H. Wise/NJ BYh/ @KMA/@ l ATTORNEY FIGZ.

Sept. 4, 1945. ,JQl-l. wlGGlNs LIQUID SEALED VENT VALVE Filed Aug. 28, '1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS.

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INVENoR; JOHN H. MGZ/(v5 2 @YW Y' ATTORNEY' Patented Sept. 4, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFl/CE; y 2,384,147 v `V Yj "7 LIQUID SEALED VENT VALVE 'John H. Wiggins, chicago, nl.

Application August 28, 1943, Serial No. 500,446

(C1. lsv- 53)y A 8 Claims.

This invention relates to liquid sealed Valves of the'kind that are used to providepressure and/ or vacuum relief to tanks or containers in which gases and/or volatile liquids are stored, and has for its main object to provide a reliable Vent valve of simple design that Awill not freeze in cold weather, and which is of such construction that a single filling of the sealing liquid suflices to maintain the valve in an operative condition for along period.V v

Another object is to provide a vent Valve of the generalkind referred to,'which`is of such design that in the levent the depth of the body of sealing liquid becomes diminished from any cause, as, for example,` evaporation, or entrainment of the liquid .with a gaseous medium flowing past the control element, fthe supporting surface on which said body of liquid rests, Vwill rise, and thus maintain the sealing liquid in proper functional relationship with the control element or elements of the valve which said liquid seals, notwithstanding the fact that the volume of the sealing liquid is considerably' less thanwhen the reservoir ofA the valve was rst filled with'sealing liquid;

Another object is-to provide a Vent Valve of the kind above referred to, in which rain water or condensed moisture is used to constitute the vertically-movable supporting surface for the sealing liquid that. rises gradually in-the event the depth of the sealing liquid becomes diminished, and thus compensates for the diminution in the volumeof the vsealing liquid. Y Another object is to provide a vent Valve of the kind last mentioned, which is of such design that watercin excess of that required to maintain the proper functional relationship betweenthe sealing liquid and the control element or elements of the valve; is automatically discharged from the valve structure. 1 l

, Another object` is to provide av liquid-sealed pressure 'and/or. vacuum Vent valve of novel construction, that is equipped with a single reservoir for the sealing liquid.

j In the, accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention embodied in a Valve that is adapted to be mounted von a tank in which volatile liquids are stored, and which has provision for providing pressure relief and Vacuum relief for the tank, vl wish itz tcfbenunde'rstood, however, that my invention is applicable to valves used solely to provide pressure'relief and to valves used solely to providevacum relief, on any type or kind of closed container. Y 'Figure' l is a vertical sectional .view of a com.` bined` pressure A and vacuum relief vent valve, con- Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View, taken on 'the line 2--2 of Figure 1, but showing fragmental portions of the weather cover for the pressure vent and the top portions of the valve cages.

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 1, illustrat-4 ing how the water in the reservoir rises in the event the depth of the sealing liquid diminishes. Figure 4 is an enlarged, vertical sectional View of= one of the control elements, Vfor (example, the control element of the pressure vent, showing said element in its normal closed position; and Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, showing in full lines, the position of saidcontrol element when it is about to leave its coacting floating s e'at, and showing, in broken lines, the position of said control element after it has separated from its seat to provide pressure relief for the container.

Briefly described; my improved Valve com` prises a reservoir adapted to hold Va relatively large quantity of a suitable sealing liquid, and constructed so that water can be used in-thebottom portion of saidreservoir to constitute a supporting surface on which the sealing liquid floats, a housing provided with 'two compartments',l -i.`e.; a pressure relief compartment, which always is in communication with the atmosphere, anda vacuum relief compartment, which always'fis in communication with the interior of the tank or container on which the valve is used, and two separate control elements, normally sealed by the liquid in the reservoir and arranged so that one of saidcontrol elements normally cuts off "communication between the pressure relief compartment and the tank, and the othercon'trol element normally cuts off communication between the atmosphere and the vacuum relief compart# ment. Said control elements are of identical construction, and each consists of a substantially inverted, cup-shaped member mounted on the upper end of a tubular duct or passageway and arranged with its lower end portion submerged in the sealing liquid. When a'certain approximate pressure is created in the tank, theY control element associated with the pressure relief cornpartment will move vertically suilicziently, to lun-- seal itselfthereby permitting gases' to'pass from the tank into the pressure relief compartment;`

and thence escape to the atmosphere, so as Vto provide pressure relief for the tank. Similarly', when a certain approximate vacuumor minus pressure is created in the tank, the control element associated with the vacuum relief compartment will move vertically sufficiently to unseal itself, whereupon air will enter the vacuum relief compartment, and thence pass into the tank so as to provide vacuum relief for the tank.

The reservoir and housing can be constructed in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, but -I prefer to use a reservoir open at its; upper-end, and :construct the housing so that itk is rer'novably mounted in the reservoir, said housing beingropen at its lower end and the side wall portion of said housing being made of such length or depth that when the housing ,is in operative position, its lower'end'is sub-l merged in and effectively sealed by the liquid in the reservoir. A vertical partition divides the interior of the housing intoV two. chambers, the

said housing submerged in the sealing liquid x, said housing having a transverse, vertically-disposed partition I that divides the interior of the housing into a pressure relief compartment B and a vacuum relief compartment B2. 'I'he vacuum relief compartment has a gas-tight top 2, but the pressure relief compartment is open to the air and is provided with a weather cover 3, which is preferably removable. The cover 3 is herein illustrated as being ksustained by rigid supports lI carried by the-housineB.. and retained in position by hook-shaped devices 5 on the housv king `that project upwardlyv through holes in the cover, but obviously, various other means may be used to mount the cover of the pressure relief compartment B in such a way that said comone whichconstitutes the vacuum relief compart-V ment having a gas-tight top, and the other chamber'` preferably having a removable top or lid thai-. serves as a weather cover for the pres- Sure reliefr compartment, which, asl previously stated, is open to the atmosphere.

A vertically-disposed,:tubular member that is positioned in the, reservoir, and" which projects downwardly 'through-the bottom of said reser# Voir, constitutes a combined `vacuum and pressure passageway,,saidtubul-arfmernber having an upvvardly-projecting Aelfi-11erisiorl that terminates insideiof; Vthe vacuum relief compartment above thelevel of the Sealing liquidiV in said compartv ment,; and said `tubular member also having an LV-shaped; branch whose vertical portion terminates inside of the. pressure relief compartment above the level ofy the sealing liquid in said com,- partment.. The.. vertical portion of the L-shaped branch just-referred'to, will hereinafter be referred to. asa pressure relief duct, and it is normally closed by the control element of the pressure relief compartment. The control element of the-vacuum relief compartment normally closes the upper endj ef a vacuum; duct: formed byr a vertically-disposed; tubular member in the reservoir, whose upper end terminates in the vacuum reliet compartment above the level o f the liquid in said compartment, and whose lower. end projects downwardlyv through thebottoxn of the reservoir and is open to the atmosphere.

Preferably, the housing which const-,itutesV the pressure-relief and vacuumrrelief' compartments; is telescopically mounted inA theI open rupper end of the reservoir, and is proportioned-so thatl there is a space or slot between said housing; and the side wall of the reservoir through which rai-n4 waterV or condensed moisture can enter the reser-z voir and precipitate to the bottom of same, so as to form a supporting llayer of water in the resei-, voir on which the sealing liquid wil-l float. The sealing liquid may be any suitable liquid sub stance that is immiscible with andlighter than water. Excess water is automatically discharged from the reservoir by an inverted Siphon Vthat leads from thelower; endof the reservoin,

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred' form of my4 invention, A designates thereservoir which is shown in Figures 1 and 2 as consisting of a substantially oblong-Shaped re.-v ceptacle whose upperend'isfopen, said receptacle being adapted to be filled with a Vseal-ingliquid immiscible with water and lighter'than, water. A housing B that'corresponds in shape 'to the side wall portionwof'said receptacle but is slightly smaller than same, is telescopically mounted in the reservoir A, with they lower end portion of partment is always in communication with the atmosphere, but rain, snow, and the like, can not beat, intoY said compartment.

yAdjacent the center of the reservoir A is a vertic,ally-disposed,l tubularI member 6 that projeotsdownwardly through the bottom of thel reservoir in alignment with a hele in the roof of the.' container or tank Cy on which the valve is used., said member beine rigidly attached' to said roofby a gas-tight joint. 'I 'heV tubularV memberfi, constitutes a combined pressure and vacuum passageway D. and said member isv provided atits `upper end with an extension 6@ that projects upwardly into the vacuum relief compartment B2- and terminates above. the level of the sealing liquid, as shown in Figure 1. Said member 6 is, alsoi provided, at a point below the extension 6a, with an L-shaped branch whose vertical portion T constitutes a press-ure duct that terminates in the pressure relief compartment B. above the level ofv the sealing liquid in saidi compartment. In effect, thelktubular Ymember B'and the portions 6a and 1 of same, constitutes an inlet for the reservoir, that establishes communication beE tween the container C and the pressure reliefv compartment B under certain conditions, and also establishes communication between the container and the vacuum relief compartment B2 underA certain other conditions. Air is supplied to the vacuum reliefcompartment B2 by a vacuum duct 8- whose upper end terminates in said compartment above the level of thel sealing liquid,` and whose open lower end portion projects through the bottom of the reservoir and is open to the atmosphere. The two ducts 'l and 8 are normally closed by a pressure relief control element and a vacuum relief' control element EL: respectively,y each of which consists of' a substantially inverted cup-shapedy member mounted on` the. upper end of the duct. and se proportioned that its 'lower end portion. will normally besubfmerged in the sealing liquid. EachA of said con,- trol elements contacts. with a valve seat F that is herein illustrated as being normally supported by a plurality of. laterally-projecting lugs or brackets' 9 on the exterior of; the duct which` the QQntrOl, elementsurrounds, and each Control element is herein illustrated as, being maintained.

, tween the control element vacuum relief compartment B2, the valve seats ranged vthat said seats will be submerged in the sealing liquid below the surface thereof, when said control elements are in their closed position,

. and will rise upwardly to the surface of the sealing liquid when said control elements move upwardly into their open position. In the form of my invention herein illustrated, the valve seats are formed by the upper ends or top surfaces of buoyant members or floats F of annular form, that surround the'tubular members or ducts, on the upper ends of which the control elements are mounted. When the control element (E or E') is in its normal closed position, as shown in Figure 4, ,the weight of the control element exerts a load or downward force on its co-acting iloating valve seat member F and causes said member to rest upon the brackets 9. If the control element starts to rise or move upwardly, due to a positive pressure exerted Von the Acontrol element E, or a minus pressure exerted on the control element E', the valve seat member F will also'move upwardly, as shown in full lines in Figure-5, and the sealing surface at the upper end of said member will remain in contact or engagement with the bottom edge of the control element during a portion of the upward travel of :the control element.

The buoyancy of the oating valve seat member F tends toA raise the control Velement with which it is associated, and accordingly, the force that normally maintains the control element in its closed position is -the weight of the control element minus the net uplift exerted on the control element by the buoyant valve 'seat member or float F. The action of both of the controlv el'e ments E and E is the same, with the exception, of course, that the element E vmoves upwardly in response to a positive pressure created in the tank C, and the control element E moves'ur Ywardly in response to a minus pressure created in the tank. Describing the operation of the control element E, I will assume that the pressure in the storage tank is such that the weight of said control element will si" k its coacting valve seat member or float F supporting brackets 9 (see Figure 4). If the pressure increases to a point, which, for convenience, I will refer to as P, the control element E and its co-acting valve seat member F start to rise and will continue to move upwardly, as r shown in full lines in Figure 5, until `the top surface of the member F, constituting the valve seat, starts to leave the surface of the sealing liquid. If said valve seat member F rises higher, the uplift on the control element E decreases, due to decrease in buoyancy of the floating member F. This will necessitate a slight rise in pressure for the control element E to rise higher tothe position shown in broken lines inY Figure 5. (There is still a mechanical seal or ,closure be- E and seat on the member F, as shown in full lines in Figurer5, so there is theoretically no escape of gas under the bottom edge of the control element E.) When the control element E and float F have risen as far as the float F will rise out of the liquid, due to its own weight alone,'the pressure has risen to a point which I will refer to as P2. There is a time lapse between P and P2, because the pressure will.require some time to build up. This gives ample time for any liquid trapped on and hold the same on the control element is opening.

AtheA top face of would have to be at least ,and 2. Attached the vtop side of the valve seat member or' -float F todrain off. Atl pressure P2 the controlele'- ment E will rise away from the seat'form'edby Y the float F, as shown in broken lines in Figure 5, but by this time there is practically no liquid on said oat, other than enough to lubricate the seat, so that when the lcontrol element leaves its seat, there is no entrainment of sealing liquid with air-flowing past the float.

The seat*F is made deep enough so that the -prest sure head thrown by the weight o the control element E, is less than the depth of the float F when floating with its own weight only, so that sealing liquidwill not bubble under or around the vfloat F. For example, if the control element rises at 1 head lof sealing liquid, the oat F 2" deep, if said noat rose half way out of the liquid when floating with its own weight only. In addition to pre venting entrainment of the sealing liquid, thus conservingY the same, the scribed effectively prevents from bobbing in and out of the control element the liquid when said The above described feature of my invention is of great commercial value, vand is applicable to various types and kinds of liquid-sealed valves.

` As previously stated, the housing B is telescopically'mounted in the upper end of the Vreservoir A, and the space between said-housing and the side wall portion of the reservoir is sealed by the same. body of liquid used to seal the pressure relief control element E and the vacuum relief control element E', said housing being supported by laterally-projecting lugs I3 at the ends of same which rest upon the top edge of the side wall portion of the reservoir, as shown in Figures l to the bottom of the reservoir is an overflow tube IlI, preferably of the inverted Siphon type that automatically discharges excess water from the reservoir, the upper end of said overflow tube being about 1/4" below the bot- 'tomv edges of the control elements E and E', yso that water can never collect in the reservoir Y.deep enough to freeze the bottom edges of said c o'ntrol ele-ments. After the reservoir is properly filled with liquid, said overflow7 tube I 4 absolutely eliminates the possi-bility of the sealing' liquida' rising high enough in the reservoir to escape over the side wall of same, or to escape over :the top edges of theV tubular members 6a, 1 or 8,

Figure 1 shows the valve supplied withv its full 'load of sealing liquid x and a small quantity of water z on which the sealing liquid flows. When it rains, rain water enters the open upper end of 4the reservoir through the space between the housing B and the side wall portion of the resf ervoir, and percolates down through the sealing liquid to the bottom of the reservoir or tothe water e on which the sealing liquid fioats. If the reservoir is full of sealing liquid, the rain water discharges through the overflow tube III as fast as it runs into the reservoir. If thereser Voir is less than full of sealing liquid, then enough rain water remains in the reservoir to raise the supporting surface of which the sealing structure above de- `stantially diminished in volume. Hence, with my -improved valve, a single .filling of sealing liquid will last for several years. During this entire period the control elements E Vand E are eiectively sealed, even atthe end of the period when the depth of thesealing liquid has diminished to the point shown in Figure 3. If it is desired to inspect the valve, this can -be accomplished quickly and easily Without removing any fastening devices, simply by lifting the housing B out of the reservoir A, and then raising the cages ypositioned over the control elements E and E', so as to provide access to said elements. When the tankor container C is under pressure,` the sealing liquid inside the pressure control element E i drops only about as much as the sealing liquid rises in the reservoir, because the sealing liquid inV the vacuum relief compartment B? is now droppingtoo. Vice versa when the tank or container is under a vacuum.k Thisis highly desirable, since when the sealing liquid is, say, only 1/2' albove the bottom edge portion of the pres.- sure relief control element-E, a liquid pressure of about 1 cmust be built up` before the gas will bubble under the Ibottomedge of said control element. Thus, if thecontro1 element E is. designed to rise at l" of the sealing liquid head, then 3/8 of sealingliquid above the, bottom of vthe element E is sulcient to give said element a `full pressure seal.

A vent valve of the. construction above described not only makes it` possible tfon effectively seal a vertically-movable, pressure operated con- `trol element anda vertically movable, vacuum.- operated control element, both of which are sealed by liquid coniined in a single reservoir, but as previously stated, it eliminates the possibility of the control elements bobbingup. and down inthe liquid, or gases bubbling violently aroundsaid control elements, 'when' the valve is. venting to afford. pressure orV vacuum relief, Entrainment of the sealing liquid is effectively prevented by `the floating or oatable members F carrying the Iseats on whichA the control elements act; and another desirable feature of` said valve is that while it utilizes rain water to com-pensate for diminution in volume of the sealing: liquid' and maintain said sealing liquid in proper-functional relationship with the control elements E and E', there is no possibility of the valve failing to function properly, due to the overflow tube i4 becoming unprimed, or the sealing liquid becoming displaced vby an excess of rainwater in the reservoir; The valve has the further desirable characteristic of lbeing of such design and construction, that if water freezes in same, it cannot interfere with the operation of the control elements E and E", or cause any parts ofthe structure to burst or crack from excessive pressure, resulting from the accumulation ofic'e.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and' desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A vent valve, comprising a reservoir, a vere tically-movable control element and a body of liquid that is used to seal said element, said res,- ervoir being so constructed that rain water can enter the same and form a supporting surface on which said sealing liquid floats, and meansfor causing said supporting surface to automatically assume a level, such as to maintain proper functional relationship between the control element and the sealing liquid', even though the original depth of the body of sealing liquid becomes greatly diminished, due to Va reduction in thevolume of the sealing liquid. y f .f

2. A venty valve, comprising aY reservoir, a control element that opens by moving upwardly, said reservoir being charged with sealing liquid in which the lower end portion ofV said control element is submerged, and said reservoir being so constructed that rain water or condensed moisture can precipitate to the bottomp'f the reservoir and form a supporting surface on which the sealing liquid floats, and a` means providing for escape of excess water fromA the reservoir, constructed so as to prevent said supporting surface from rising to a height or level great enough to cause or allow the sealing liquid Vto escape from the reservoir. v Y v ir1- 3. A vent; valve,V comprising a reservoinia vertically-movable control element, said reservoir being charged with sealing liquid in Ywhich the lower end portion of said control. element is submerged, the upper end of said reservoir lbeing open so that rain water can enter same and -precipitate to the bottom of the reservoir, and an inverted Siphon shaped tube` leading frornrthe bottom of the reservoir and provided with a vertically-disposed vwater leg whose upper end ter minates in a horizontal plane lower than the vhorizontal plane in which the bottom edgeof said control element lies.

4. A vent valvefforaV closedV container, comprising a reservoir having an inlet andy charged with a sealing liquid immiscible with and lighter than Water, said reservoir being constructed so that rain Water or condensed vapor can beutilized to form a supporting surface on which the sealing liquid floats, a. pressurerelief compartment above the sealing liquid that i-s in constant communication with the atmosphere and normally cut off from the inlet; a vacuum relief compartment above the sealing liquid that is in constant communication with the inlet `and normally cut off from the atmosphere, and control elements sealed by the sealing liquid, foradmitting air to the vacuum relief `compartment and-for r providing means of escape; of Yexcess pressure from. the inlet to said pressure relief compartment. 3

5. A vent valve of the construction described in claim 4, in which said compartments are formed by a divided housing` `telescopically mounted in the upper end of the reservoir and lhaving its lower end sealed by the seal-ing liq.- uid in said reservoir. f

6. A vent valve of the construction described in claim 4, in which each of said control Vele-- ments consists of a substantially inverted, cupshaped member, mounted so as to move vertically onv the upper end of a tubular duct in said reservoir, and having itsr lower end portion normally submerged in the sealing liquid, .l

'1. A vent valve of the construction described in claim 4, in which an inverted water discharge siphon shaped pipe leads from the bottom `of the reservoir* 8. A Ventvalve provided with. a vertically-movable pressure relief elementand a verticallyrnov` able vacuum relief element,- a, single reservoir that holds a body of liquid which seals both of said elements, and means for utilizing rain wa.- ter or condensed moisture to constitute a supporting surface for the sealing liquid'that auto matically rises progressively as the volume of 'the sealing liquid diminishes.

JoHN H.' irv'rorniis. 

